An English Orthodox Book of Common Prayer

THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER

The Administration of the Sacraments and
Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church

IN THE ENGLISH PAROCHIAL TRADITION,
ACCORDING TO ORTHODOX
CATHOLIC USAGE

TABLE of CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Daily Office

the general confession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the order for daily morning prayer . . . . . . . . . . . .

old testament canticles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the Athanasian creed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

an order for prime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

an order for sext, or midday prayer . . . . . . . . . . . .

the order for daily evening prayer . . . . . . . . . . . .

benediction of the blessed sacrament . . . . . . . . . .

an order for compline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the psalter, or psalms of david . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

prayers and thanksgivings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

a bidding prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

forms of prayer to be used in families . . . . . . . .

a penitential office for ash wednesday . . . . . . .

the litany, or general supplication . . . . . . . . . . .

The Mass, or Divine Liturgy

the proper of the season, part i . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

an outline of the mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the asperges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the order for holy mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the decalogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the proper of the season, part ii . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the proper of the saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Sacraments and Pastoral Offices

holy baptism and confirmation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the sacrament of penance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the reception of converts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the solemnization of matrimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the churching of women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

holy communion outside mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the visitation of the sick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the communion of the sick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the anointing of the sick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the litany for the dying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the burial of the dead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the burial of a child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Appendices

i. the calendar of the christian year . . . . . . . . .

ii. the daily office lectionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

iii. opening sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

iv. historic eucharistic canons . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

v. guides to the mass and the daily office . . . . .

COMMENTARY

The Book of Common Prayer has defined the English Church’s theology, ecclesiology, and piety since the 1549. The book has seen various rewrites since its first version. Some have been very Roman in content, others much more protestant, others more Anglo-catholic, and most recently liberal catholic in content. All reflect Anglicanism as understood by differing sectors of the Anglican Church who produce prayer books for their provinces.

Lancelot Andrewes Press has just released a new Book of Common Prayer that makes a very serious attempt to reform the theology, ecclesiology, and piety of the its users to that of the first millennium English church. It is assembled by Anglican rite Orthodox liturgists, and it is in line with that Holy Orthodoxy that would have existed prior to the great schism between east and west. I have only had this Prayer book for less than one week, but am convinced that it excels beyond in content beyond any other version that I have ever seen, read, or used. May this prayer book restore Anglicanism to the Orthodoxy that rightly belongs to it.

Purification

QUOTE:

For our God Jesus Christ was , according to God’s dispensation, the fruit of Mary’s womb, of the seed of David; He was born and baptized in order that he might make the water holy by His passion. (Letter to the Ephesians, Ignatius of Antioch, ca 100 AD)

COMMENTARY:

Everything about Jesus’ humanity had a purifying affect on the creation. He was as a kind of filter for the removal of all things evil. The teachings of the fathers tell us that everything He came into contact with was mystically transformed for all eternity. According to Ignatius, the power behind this transformative energy is His passion or sufferings. It may be said that the Passion of Christ restored all things to their proper place in creation. But can we really sense that change?

The fact is that all things are not pure in our reality, all water is not pure, all bread is not pure, and all wine is not pure; that being the case how can this be true? The answer to that is found in the mysteries (sacraments) left to us by Christ. When a physical object is employed in a mystery or sacrament, that object used receives the purity that Jesus procured for it. Whether it is the water used for baptism, the oil used for chrysmation, or the bread and wine used for communion, all of these, once consecrated receive the purity that Jesus procured by his passion and that is to come to all creation in the final resurrection, here and now. Hence, the mysteries are a participation in that purity which Christ will bring to creation in the present. Simultaneously, since the energy that obtained this purity was the passion of Christ, when we partake in these mysteries, we also partake in Christ’s passion. This is the reason why the Apostle can say, Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Rom 6: 3. The mysteries or sacraments are a doorway into the death of this corrupted age, and the purity of the age to come for all who believe now.

Has God’s Creation Failed?

QUOTE

In this world Christ was rejected. The fragmentary life of this world was gathered into His life: he was the heartbeat of the world and the world killed him. In that murder the world itself died, and lost its chance to become the paradise that God created it to be. We can go on developing bigger and better things, and even a more humane society that may keep us from annihilating ourselves, but when Christ the true life of the world, was rejected, it was the beginning of the end. That rejection had finality about it. As Pascal said “Christ is in agony until the end of the world.” Christianity often appears however to preach that if men try hard enough to live the Christian lives, the crucifixion can somehow be reversed. This is because Christianity has forgotten itself; it has forgotten that it must first of all stand at the cross. (For the Life of the World, Alexander Schmemann, 1963)

COMMENTARY

There is a huge misapprehension within the church regarding the roles of Christians in this world. Some believe that the world is not worth our time because to labor in it is to polish brass on a sinking ship. Others believe that the ship has arrived, and that it is now time to set things right for its crew. Both of these popular views miss the main point of our true situation. Fr. Alexander gets at the heart of the matter when he writes, “Jesus was the heartbeat of the world and the world killed him”, and consequently by “that murder the world itself died, and lost its chance to become the paradise that God created it to be”. The significance of this for Christian living is gigantic because it strips the Christian mind of every delusion that we can bring this world back to life. We cannot bring the world back, it is dead! Now there is only the hope of a new world. Therefore, all right belief and right practice for this life must begin at the cross of our Lord Jesus.

Seeing the dead state of this present creation has real consequences upon what we think, say, and do. When St Paul said, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 1 Cor 2: 2.” he affirmed the fact that all right belief and right practice for this life must have as its launching pad a view of the crucifixion of our Lord. Consequently, this means that this it also includes an understanding that this is a failed creation and that real life lies in another creation. It is upon that creation that we place our sights and our hopes here and now in the midst of death. For now we have life amongst the dead. This may seem like a dark way to view the world, and in many ways it is, but how much worse would it be if all there were is death. Our great hope is that death is going away, and true life is on its way.

ANGLICANORUM COETIBUS

QUOTE:

ANGLICANORUM COETIBUS Article - VI.

§ 1. Those who ministered as Anglican deacons, priests, or bishops, and who fulfill the requisites established by canon law and are not impeded by irregularities or other impediments may be accepted by the Ordinary as candidates for Holy Orders in the Catholic Church. In the case of married ministers, the norms established in the Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI Sacerdotalis coelibatus, n. 42 and in the Statement In June are to be observed. Unmarried ministers must submit to the norm of clerical celibacy of CIC can. 277, §1.

§ 2. The Ordinary, in full observance of the discipline of celibate clergy in the Latin Church, as a rule (pro regula) will admit only celibate men to the order of presbyter. He may also petition the Roman Pontiff, as a derogation from can. 277, §1, for the admission of married men to the order of presbyter on a case by case basis, according to objective criteria approved by the Holy See. (The Apostolic Constitution, November 2009)

COMMENTARY

There exists a particular family with the Anglican Communion that goes by the name “Anglo-Catholic.” It has been around from the earliest of days in the British Isles, and at times they have been the majority, and at other times the minority. This English Catholicism has always been part of the Catholic Church; however, for the last 450 years it has not been in relationship with the Roman Catholic Church due to the obvious political and theological disagreements. Nevertheless, it seems as though these old divisions may be disappearing, at least for some within the Anglo-Catholic party, or are they?

The new offer to Anglicans by Vatican says the following: In the case of married ministers, the norms established in the Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI Sacerdotalis coelibatus, n. 42 and in the Statement In June are to be observed. Unmarried ministers must submit to the norm of clerical celibacy of CIC can. 277, §1.& 277, §1, for the admission of married men to the order of presbyter on a case by case basis, according to objective criteria approved by the Holy See.

As such, one of the primary distinctions between Anglo-Catholicism and Roman Catholicism must be forfeited by the Anglo-Catholics. This is a huge price to pay, and the sad part is that it is not a change that is supported by either church history, or the scriptures. In fact, the first Pope, St Peter, was married: And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever Mat 8:14. And the first doctor of the church, St Paul, made marriage a requirement for all future clergy: Therefore, a bishop/episcopos must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach. 1 Tim 3: 2

The acceptance of married Anglican priest into the Church of Rome is being treated as a nasty exception, rather than a good and wholesome requirement for holy orders. So long as this is the case it will be difficult for many who desire reunification to move towards it.

The Bishop of Fort Worth Responds to the Vatican

I have read with great interest various reports concerning today's announcement from top officials in the Vatican about some new provisions being made whereby Anglicans may enter into full communion with the Holy See. For some time now I have understood that high-level discussions about this were taking place in Rome and that an announcement along these lines would be made before the end of the year. As today's announcement indicates, a new Apostolic Constitution is soon to be released which will spell out Pope Benedict XVI's response to Anglicans who wish to enter into full visible communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

Many Anglo-Catholics will welcome this development as a very generous and welcoming offer that enhances the Pastoral Provision that has been in place for several years for those seeking reunion with Rome. Other Anglicans who desire full communion with the See of Peter would prefer some sort of recognition of the validity of Anglican orders and the provision for inter-communion between Roman Catholics and Anglicans.

The virtues of the proposal as I understand it have to do with maintaining certain aspects of the Anglican way of worship, spirituality, and ethos while entering into full communion with the Pope. But of course, not all Anglo-Catholics can accept certain teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, nor do they believe that they must first convert to Rome in order to be truly catholic Christians.

This option to choose different paths comes at a difficult time for us as together we face the challenges of the litigation brought against us by the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Rather than making hasty decisions or quick resolutions, we will continue to work and pray together for the unity of Christ's holy catholic church throughout the world.

----The Rt. Rev. Jack Leo Iker is Bishop of Fort Worth---

Anglican-Orthodox Nashotah Pictures

http://www.smilodon-photo.com/church/nashota_meeting/

Image & Likeness

QUOTE:

According to most of the Greek Fathers, the terms image and likeness do not mean exactly the same thing. ‘The expression according to the image,’ wrote John of Damascus, ‘indicates rationality and freedom, while the expression according to the likeness indicates assimilation to God through virtue.’ the image, to use the Greek term icon, of God our free human use of our will, our reason, our sense of responsibility - everything in short which marks us out from animal creation and makes each of us a person.

The image denotes the powers with which each of us is endowed by God from the first moment of our existence; the likeness is not an endowment which we possess from the start, but the goal at which we must aim, something we can only acquire by degrees. However sinful we may be, we never loose the image; but the likeness depends on our moral choices, upon our ‘virtue’, and so it is destroyed by sin.(The Orthodox Chruch, Timothy Ware, 1963 AD)

COMMENTARY

Patristic anthropology (the way that the church Father’s understood humanity) is very different from the common anthropology of today’s western church. The basis for the Father’s perspective is first and foremost Trinitarian, they understood that mankind was created in image of God, and that the image was not something that could be destroyed by sin, hence certain traits of a human being could never be altered by the fall into sin and death. The Father’s believed that even after the fall and its corruption of humanity, man’s Trinitarian like capacity to ‘freely use of our will, our reason, and our sense of responsibility’ was not reversed.

It is precisely the failure to distinguish between Trinitarian image that cannot be undone and the Trinitarian likeness which must be attained, which has resulted in the endless and irresolvable battle between the Calvinists and the Non-Calvinists regarding the human will. Only after the patristic doctrine regarding man as the image or icon becomes clear in our understandings can we begin to dig into the concept of the will and its role in the story of redemption. It is here that the comments of Bishop Ware become priceless to the western mind. When Bishop writes, ‘the image denotes the powers with which each of us is endowed by God from the first moment of our existence,’ he uncovers the basis for all teaching and debate regarding the human will.